Dáil debates

Friday, 24 January 2014

Censorship of Publications Board Repeal Bill 2013: Second Stage

 

10:05 am

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am deputising for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, who I understand has communicated to the proposer of the Bill the reason he cannot be here.

Censorship of publications in Ireland has had a very sad and sorry history, as Deputy Niall Collins has just adduced. Many great works of literature, including many by internationally successful and talented authors, both Irish and international, were banned. There is no question of returning to that time when a powerful censorship board could determine what members of the public could and could not read.

Deputy Collins's Bill proposes to repeal the Censorship of Publications Board and the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board. To me, this appears to be a sensible and overdue reform, but achieving this objective is somewhat more complex than is envisaged in Deputy Collins's Bill. There are two core issues to address. The first is that a complaint has been made under the current legislation, and it is only fair that we allow that complaint to be dealt with. The second is that this is a complex and technical area, and repealing part of the Censorship of Publications Acts while leaving the remainder in place should not be done without giving due consideration to the effects that this would have on the entire body of legislation. The last publication to be banned by the boards under this legislation was in 2003.

The approach of this Government is to examine all of the issues and the alternatives and then make a well-informed decision on the best way forward. Its approach is to give the complainant access to a censorship of publications board, which is provided for in the legislation under which they have made a complaint, and that is only fair. The Government, therefore, will not rush to take action without examining all the implications of that action. It will adopt a course after examining all of the issues that arise, and for this reason we will formally oppose Deputy Collins's Bill.

The Censorship of Publications Acts 1929 to 1967 comprise a total of three Acts. Under the Acts, publications that are censored are published in Iris Oifigiúiland entered on a register of prohibited publications which is provided for in the Acts. These registers are available on the websites of both the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The role of the Censorship of Publications Board is to examine books and periodicals for sale. The board may prohibit the sale and distribution of books and periodicals if they are found to be “indecent or obscene” or “advocate the procurement of abortion or miscarriage or the use of any method, treatment or appliance for the purpose of such procurement”. In addition, an officer of Customs and Excise may detain on importation, for the purpose of referring it to the Censorship of Publications Board, any book which, in his or her opinion, ought to be examined under the Act. The board must examine every book referred to it by an officer of Customs and Excise and every book in respect of which a complaint is made to it in the prescribed manner by any other person and may examine any book on its own initiative. The Censorship of Publications Board meets only when it is required. It last met on 3 June 2008. The term of office of the last Censorship of Publications Board expired on 9 November 2011. One complaint has been received for consideration by the Censorship of Publications Board.

The term of office of the Censorship of Publications Board is five years. The chairperson and members of the board are appointed by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Censorship of Publications Board is independent of the Minister in the exercise of its functions and, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, he does not have any power to alter these decisions. The Act specifies that the board shall have five members including the chairperson. The five-year term of office of the board is reckoned from the expiration of the term of office of its predecessor. The term of office of the last board expired on 9 November 2011 and therefore the term of a new board would run to 9 November 2016.

The Censorship of Publications Appeals Board may on appeal affirm or revoke a prohibition order in respect of a book or periodical publication or may vary the order so as to exclude from the application thereof any particular edition of the prohibited book or periodical publication. The appeals board has five members. The chair must be a judge of the Supreme Court, High Court or Circuit Court or a practising barrister or a practising solicitor of not less than seven years standing. The term of office of the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board is for three years. The board meets as required and it last met on 21 November 2011. Like the Censorship of Publications Board, its term of office is reckonable from the expiry of the previous board. The term of office of the last iteration of the appeals board expired on 11 February 2012, so a newly appointed board would serve until 11 February 2015. In the case of both boards, board members are not paid but they are recompensed for expenses incurred in respect of attendance at board meetings.

Significant legislative change has taken place since these boards were first put in place and, as Deputy Niall Collins said, technological advancement has altered the way in which information is shared, accessed and disseminated. One of the legislative changes is the Child Trafficking and Pornography Acts 1998 and 2004. Under this legislation, distribution of child pornography by film, video or material in written or auditory form including material produced or transmitted via the Internet is illegal. It might be worth mentioning here that, while there are many different approaches to censorship internationally, child pornography is the only subject which is censored in virtually every country in the world.

Another legislative change in the area of censorship is the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. This legislation makes it an offence, inter alia, to publish or distribute written material, to show or play a recording if the written material or recording, are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or are likely to stir up hatred.

I turn now to the Internet, which was not even dreamt of in 1967, much less so in 1929 or in 1946. This means that legislation which regulates the contents of printed books and periodicals as defined under the 1929 and 1946 Acts does not prohibit the same content on the Internet. In Ireland, we do regulate the Internet but we regulate it in a different way to the way we regulate publications. At present in Ireland, Internet service providers, ISPs, operate under a self-regulatory format. This is based on an industry code of practice and ethics that commits participating ISPs to ensure that their services and promotional materials will not contain material that is illegal, misleading, likely to incite violence or cruelty, racial hatred, prejudice, discrimination or even where the material is not illegal but considered inappropriate or calculated to cause distress, anxiety or inconvenience to others.

This self-regulation is overseen by the Office for Internet Safety which was established in 2008. It is an executive office of the Department of Justice and Equality and has primary oversight responsibility in respect to reviewing and ensuring the appropriate operation of the code and the wider self-regulatory system. If self-regulation were not proving effective enough, then the Office for Internet Safety can consider the introduction of legislation to regulate the sector. The debate following this Bill concerns a report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications and is not disconnected from this issue. I thank Deputy Niall Collins for advancing the Bill, which is timely. I hope it will provoke a debate in the House that is long overdue.

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